Wedge closure fitting



Mar h 41 1 2 L. J. WEBER ET AL WEDGE CLOSURE FITTING Filed Jan. 7, 1948 INVENTOR- Louis lwabqr' BY Lui'her R'mgo- AHIys.

Patented Mar. 4, 1952 WEDGE CLOSURE FITTING,

Louis Joe Weber, Bartlesville, kla., and Luther David Ringo, Berger, Tex., assignors to Phillips- Petroleumflompany, a corporation of Delaware Application January 7,19 48 ,Serial No. 331i 6 Claims.

This invention is for an improved closurefitting of the wedge locked type.

The broad obiect of this-inventionis to provide a wedge locked'ty-pe of closure fittingforthe charging and cleaning out ofcontainers of various formssuch as pipes; retorts, reaction vessels, catalyst chambers,- and the like.

An .obiectofthis invention is to provide two forms of such fitting adapted to the repair of .similar fittings alreadyin use and to the installation of new fittings on new installations.

The invention is of special value in-sealing the charging and cleaning-out openings of containers or vessels which in normal: useare operated-at relative y high or cyclic temperaturesand/or pressures;

A more specific ob ect of the invention is to provide an easily manipulatab'le fitting Icy-means of which access to the vessel or container is easily possibleaand by means'of which the vessel or container can be posi-tivelysealed after access.

Other and more detailed obiects of" the invention will be apparent from the followingwdescription ofthe two embodiments thereof illustrated in the attached drawings and-described hereinafter in connection therewith.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, arrangement and relative location of parts, all aswill bedescribed in detail below.

In the accompanying drawings;-

Figure 1 is a vertical, central, cross-sectional view through aform of the invention employed in modifying charging and cleanout fittings of an extensively used type which have become ineffective by excessive I wear;

Figure 2 is-a topplan view of this fitting-as modified in accordanee -with this invention;

Figure 3- showsan enlarged detailed crosssectional view through theiseat and cooperating valve before they are wedged into sealing relation; Figure 4 is-a similar view showing them wedged into sealing relation;

Figure 5 is a vertical, central, crossrsectional view through a fitting in accordance with the other form of the invention herein disclosed as limits of reasonable economy it'is difficult to provide. a simple fixture which can beopened readily: and; which. can bemquickly and; easily closed to provide a leakproof seal. The purpose fitted andthetwo parts weldedtogether.-

2 of this invention is to. provide a simplified fitting, one comprising a modification-of fittings already installed and the? other a modification for new installations bymeans .ofiwhichatalow costcaccess isfacilitated and an efiectivesealis secured;

The inventionwas firsttdeveloped in connection with the fitting illustrated in Figures -1-and zywhich due to use became worn tothe point where they did-not provide an effective sealswhen closed. The: problem was to provide a repair therefor-which would avoid the necessity-'of providing anew-fitting. InFigures 5 and 6- are illustrated the 1 application of these same princi pies to a new fitting;

In the drawings a the container has been I illustrated as a 'pipe I, having an opening 2 through which access to the'interior of thepipe is possible. In prior practice a fitting comprisinga cylindrical metallic body 3 was attached *to the pipe I withthepassage '5 of the fittingin" alignmentwith the opening'lofthe pipebvmeans of theweldli The upper end of the fitting! is recessed to providea spherical seat 6 on which a pluger valvemember I; having a spherical seat 8, rests.- This-prior--fitting-is provided witl ian exterior thread I- 2 :by means of which aminteriorl-y: threaded 1 cap; not shown; was mounted on the-fitting-soas to engage-the plug 'land iorce it onto its seat under-pressure; However; over aperiod eftir e-the threads-I-Zandthe threads on the cap became so worn and oxidized that an effective seal could not beobtained; As-there werema-ny thousandset such-fittings in-use the problem ot-medifyingthem toreturn, themto good-condition arose.

In accordance with thisinvention the fitting -3 -was provided with an-annular seat ll at its upper 1 threaded end on-which-a ring; lo was The ring Iwwas mounted with a pairof diametrically alignedopenings I fl'and I4 of such relative len th as to permit ofthe insert on andseating of a wedge 15 between the ends ofthe openings I4 and the curved; as for examplespherical, top-9 of theplug "I. With thisarrangemen't it-ispossible by driving the wedge I 5 axially to cause the spherical seats 6 and a-to engage ina sealing contact such as is effective-evenatrelativelyfnigh temperatures and pressures. Theseating surface 8 of the valvemember'bis-forced into engagement with the seating surface Softhe -fitting 3" so as to deform these seating surfaces into an annular band B of contact as distinguished from a circular line of contact whenthey are engaged: under-no pressure as indieated' -in Figure 3. Thus there is createdela.-.seailing.-.-condition which insures againstrleakage .under high temperatures: and pressures;

"While the operations of*forming-thaannular seat I I; attaching the ring I!) x and "reforming-the 31215; can bewaccomplished withoutmemov the fittin s-fr m hees el1 it a areatwhat the opening 2 in the vessel 'I when the fitting is mounted on the vessel as by welding, as indicated to provide a spherical seat 36 on which the spherical seating surface 38 of the plug or valve member 31 rests. The top surface of the plug 31 is spherical, as indicated at 39. At diametrically opposed points the fitting 30 is provided with 'a pair of extensions or ears 40 having aligned passages 43 and 44 therein to receive the wedge 45. As in the previous case this wedge enga es the spherical top 39 of the plug 31 forcin the plu into seating engagement with the fitting seat 36 while allo ing it to rock or rotate so as to effect an equalized seating engagement bet een the seating surfaces 36 and 38.

In both cases it is contemplated that the radii RI and R2 of the seating surf ces 6 and 8 respectivelv will'be different, as illustrated in Figure 3. This figure shows these seatin surfaces engaged under little or no pressure, while Figure 4 shows a relative position when engaged under pressure such as would be created by the wedges of the structures previously described. From substantially aligned contact, as illustrated in Figure 3, under pressure these surfaces enga e over a more extended area which on study will be seen to be in t e form of an annular band of radial width substantially greater than ali ned contact; Thus with this structure t e plu may find an eoualized pressure relationship with respect to the fittin and under stress the area of g;

contact bet een the seats '6 and 8 and 36 and 38 will be increased to insure an effective seal which can be ouickly and easily attained by means of the locking wedges.

From experience it has been found that the relationship of the radii RI and R2 is critical. The preferable range of sizes of the radii which is critical in order to obtain the full benefits of this invention is such that the difference in the len th of radii RI and R2 when the diameter D approaches zero is from to /8" and when D is of the order of 18" the difference between these radii is in the ran e of from /2" to 1". For other sites of diameter D the same proportional radial relationship is preferably maintained. Excellent results are secured when R2 is preferably from 1 to 2 times the diameter D.

Within the conditions defined by these formulae it has been found by experience that very effective seals for fittin s of this t pe may be secured onvessels or containers operat n at norm'al tem eratures or pressures, as well as at relatively hi h tem eratures and pressures such as are encountered in manv chem cal processes.

From the above description it will be apparent to'those skilled in the art that the details of this'invention are subject to some variation, and we do not, therefore, desire to be strictlv limited to the illustrated embodiments herein described, but rather by the claims granted us.

What is claimed is:

1. A closure fitting for a vessel subject to high temperatures and high pressures com rising in combination a bodv'secured to a vessel having a bore in communication with the interior of the vessel,'said body being formed with an annular seat disposed at .the outerend of said bore, the

.4 surface of said annular seat being substantially a zone of a, first sphere, the radius of said first sphere bein RI, a plug mounted on said seat having a seat which is a zone of said second sphere, the radius of which being R2, and RI minus R2 equals 1 inch or less and where D the diameter of said bore is 8 inches or less, said plug having a curved surface on the top, and

means interposed between said body and the top of said plug to lock it on the seat of said body under pressure.

A closure fitting of the type described comprising a body having a longitudinal passage therethrough and terminal spherical seat there: in, a plug having an upper curved surface and a lower spherical surface for engagin said seat, a collar surrounding said seat and having diametrically opposed openings therein, and a wedge member engaging the curved top of said plug and said ring through said openings to firmly force the spherical bottom of the plug onto the spherical seat of the body.

3. In the combination of claim 2, where D is the diameter of the passage in said body, RI is the radius of said spherical seat and R2 is the radius of the spherical bottom of said plug, the relationship that R2 is from 1%; to 2 times D and RI is larger than R2.

4. In thecombination of claim 2, the radii of said spherical seating surfaces bearing the relationship of RI minus R2 equals A; to inch for small sizes of D, where RI is the radius of said spherical seat on said body, R2 is the radius of the spherical surface on the bottom of said plug, and D is the diameter of said passage.

5. In the combination of claim 2, the radii of said spherical seatin surfaces bearing the relationship of RI minus R2 equals to 1 inch when D is approximately 8 inches where RI is the radius of said spherical seat on said body, R2 is the radius of the spherical surface on the bottom of said plug, and D is the diameter of said passage.

6. In the combination of claim 2, the radii of said spherical seating surfaces bearing the relationship of RI minus R2 equals A; to inch approximately when D is less than 8 inches, where RI is the radius of said spherical seat on said body, R2 is the radius of the spherical surface on the bottom of said plug, and D is the diameter of the passage in said body.

LOUIS JOE WEBER. LUTHER DAVID RINGO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 222,738 Robinson Dec. 1 1879 304,478 Weston Sept. 2, 1884 670,977 Watson Apr. 2, 1901 1,048,825 Griffiths Dec. 31, 1912 1,168,933 Burkleyet al Jan. 18, 1916 1,664,270 Shelvin Mar. 27, 1928 2,083,011 Ducummun June 8, 1937 2,092,401 Miller Oct. 18, 1938 2,133,917 Clifton Oct. 18, 1938 2,352,382 Hendricks June 27. 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 58,448 Germany ...I Aug. 27, 1891 

